Diaries of a Missing Nin
by La Copine
Summary: Akira loves being a ninja. But when she's framed for a crime she didn't commit, she's forced out of her society and into a new and more lethal one who call themselves Akatsuki. Follow her journey of rebirth, realization... and revenge. Oc/char pairing
1. Chapter 1

I've never known what it was like to have everything you've ever believed in thrown back in your face. To have everything you've ever worked for seem like a waste of time. Most people go throughout their whole lives without feeling anything like that. As no one should, it's one of the most disheartening feelings in the world. It often makes people wonder if their futures are worth anything whatsoever, seeing as their past is meaningless. Needless to say, it never ends well.

Sadly, I am no exception to this rule.

My day started off as it normally would. I was positive that I was a force for good in our troubled world. I was so happy. I had breakfast with my family and kissed them goodbye. My sister was pregnant with her first child. It was going to be my niece's birthday and I was excited about the gift I got her; it was perfect! My parents were enjoying there retirement; my father was finally starting his garden and my mother was enjoying spending more time with him.

Oh, yes. When I left my family's compound everything seemed in order. The rustling leaves that scurried along the ground made the smile on my face content as I took a deep breath that seemed to spread the fall air through my body. It was refreshing.

I checked my ninja gear pouch. Everything was as I left it last night, full of kunai and shuriken that I sharpened to perfection. It was a habit of mine to make sure I was fully prepared for a day's work. Call me paranoid, but when you're on an A-Rank mission it sucks to be caught without long-range weapons.

I breathed out a sigh and quickened my pace at the thought of a mission. I loved my work. The feeling of the adrenaline rush while skulking into a secret base. The thrill of the chase. The way my heart started pumping like it was a big game of hide and seek.

When I finally made it to headquarters I met up with my team mates. They made my job a thousand times more fun. Well, it was already the best job I could ask for. But it was like expanding this great big game. They were my play mates. Not that I'd ever tell them that, of course.

"Hey, good morning guys." I said and smiled. Sachi smiled back and waved. Hiroma shook his head and yawned.

"I don't get it. What's your secret?" He asked and rubbed his eyes.

I froze and quirked an eyebrow. "What secret?"

"How you can be so smiley in the mornings!" He grinned sleepily. "That secret!"

I chuckled. "I wake up early and see my family. That's my secret. And now, because you know, I'll have to kill you."

He smirked and wiggled his eyebrows. "We both know that you find my company too enjoyable to kill me."

At that I had to laugh. "For now I do. But if you bore me…"

He tried to hide his smirk as I drew my index finger across my throat. Sachi smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Alright, alright quit flirting you two. We've got a mission to do, if you'll please remember." She grinned. Hiroma and I both gave her a blank stare.

He shrugged. "Whatever. C'mon, let's get going."

We agreed and shrugged on our back packs and started down the main road out of town. I was excited about this mission; it was completely confidential and only a select few knew about it. It was an infiltration mission that required someone with unsurpassable stealth skills. I don't mean to sound cocky, but that'd be me.

A few people in my village nicknamed me the 'Invisible' ninja. I was, literally, untraceable. I knew several genjutsu that aided me in this, but mostly I didn't even need chakra to be stealthy. I was just as quiet, if not more, as a mouse and I could find a hiding spot almost anywhere.

But today, my mission was to follow and trace a suspect. We walked to the spot of road that was marked on our map, and settled into the trees on one side to wait. We talked quietly to ourselves about random things; my sister's pregnancy, how Sachi's children and husband were doing, Hiroma's mother's mysterious illness…

"Yes, but the thing I'm worried about is that I won't be there for her." He said quietly.

"What? Of course you will!" I reassured and squeezed his shoulder lightly. "You love her so much, why would you think you wouldn't?"

"It's just…" He began and sighed. "Have you heard about all the deaths since the new Hokage came into order? All the Jounin and ANBU to come back home in body bags?"

"Well, yes, of course. But there only rumors, right?" Sachi asked and frowned. Hiroma shook his head.

"I thought so too, but a few days ago I saw… Three body bags being drug into head quarters."

"What? Are you sure they were bodies?"

"I've been around enough corpses to know what death feels like." He replied as his mouth became a grim slash. "And there are so many deaths… Whole teams being taken out! And that's not the worst part of it."

Sachi and I were both too tense to interrupt. My eyes flicked over to her and I knew that she was lapping up this information with interest. I admit that I was finding Hiroma's story hard to turn away from or deny.

"It's… It's been rumored that the killings were done by our own ninja."

"What?!" I breathed and as Sachi clasped her hand over her mouth. "Surely you're kidding! Our leaders wouldn't do that to us! They know us and our friend's loyalty to the nation!"

"It can't be!" Sachi choked out as tears welled in her eyes. I took her hand in mine and patted it as comfortingly as I could muster.

"It's what I've heard." Hiroma replied, his mouth a grim slash. "And that's what setting me on edge. If somebody within our society is arranging for the deaths of their own ninja, what could they be planning on doing to the people?"

I didn't want to think about it.


	2. Chapter 2

The sun began to set and we knew it was time for the talking to stop. We could no longer make any noise, which was easy enough for me than my team mates. Hiroma does his best to be completely silent, but Sachi was kind of a klutz. Since I was going to be the one doing the moving, Sachi was to remain at the base until I apprehended the suspect.

I positioned myself on a branch of a tall tree, readying my bones for a long, motionless wait. The branch I was occupying positioned me almost over the road, so I had a perfect view of the stretch of land. I flicked my eyes to the underbrush where I knew Sachi and Hiroma were lying in wait.

The sun was almost gone when I heard the talking. It was only buzzing at first, and then I could make out the words. Then I saw him; our target. A man with a hat set low over his face wearing a black suit with black gloves over his hands. I couldn't see any of his face except for his mouth. There were about five men dressed in black robes and carrying swords arranged around the target, some of them talking amongst themselves.

I tuned out the chatter and watched the man in the suit and his guard as they continued walking down the path. I crept slowly along, following them silently from the tree tops. I kept up with my trailing until they were far enough away and getting closer to my trap.

I lagged behind as they kept moving down the path, towards a stick that was standing straight up in the middle of the road. I waited for it.

"What the hell is this?"

I pulled a kunai out of my pouch and threw it towards the stick, slicing it in the middle. Several things happened.

The hired guards let out a cry, seeing the kunai fly in front of them and snap the stick. As the stick snapped, thickly knotted nets shot out from the woods, capturing anything that happened to be on the road. My eyes widened as the target of the mission jumped out of the net's path and began running.

"Shit!" I cursed and sprung out of the tree, using a bit of chakra to gain on the man. I needn't have bothered. It was easy for me to catch up and tackle him to the ground. I pulled out a chord of rope and tied his hands behind his back as he tried to throw me off.

"Stop your struggling!" I growled and stood, yanking him up by the back of his suit jacket.

He said nothing, but still tried to break loose from my tight grip on his clothing. I let out a huff and began dragging him back towards the netted hired guards. The nets had been cut, and Hiroma was bending over the unconscious mercenaries that he'd tied up together.

"Good work," He nodded as he finished knotting the rope. "You caught him quick."

"It was too easy." I smiled and shook the now cooperating man by the back of his suit. "Did you relieve them of their weapons?"

He nodded and jerked his head towards a pile of burning rubbish. How on earth did I miss that? I took out my frustration on my prisoner and began to drag him back towards where we had left Sachi so she could call for some pick up ninja that could take the hired hands out of our sight. Night set in as we drew nearer, and I thought about how much I wanted to be home with my family. They'd be having dinner in an hour or so, and if I hurried home I might be able to see my niece open her presents.

"Sachi?" Hiroma whispered to the shadows. "We've got them if you want to come out now."

We waited for our friend to push her way through the thicket, or to light a match but we saw nothing of Sachi. I sighed.

"Should I go in after her?" I asked and gazed dryly at the forest. "She probably fell asleep or something."

Hiroma ran a hand through his short black locks, a look of pure worry plastered onto his face. "Maybe we should both go. If something did happen to her, it wouldn't be wise to split up."

"But Hiro, it's _Sachi._ She's probably trying to catch a squirrel or daydreaming or something-"

"I realize that, but-" He let out a sigh. "But I don't know what I'd do if I lost you. Or if I lost Sachi, for that matter."

The shadows hid my smile ever so slightly and I cuffed the back of the suited man's head. "But still, we both can't look for her if we still have the baggage in our possession. If you hang onto him, I can slip in there and find her easily."

Hiroma breathed a sigh and rubbed his temples. "Fine. But, please be quick about it. I just want to get home soon."

I smiled as he took the prisoner. His stone grey eyes locked with mine as I winked, turned toward the woods, and darted inside.

The forest was definitely a lot creepier at night. The sounds of nocturnal animals were heard throughout the trees and I felt a shiver roll down my spine. I slunk through the underbrush, keeping my eyes and ears open for any signs of Sachi. As time slowly ticked on, I decided to use some drastic measures.

"Sachi!" I whispered, listening for any sort of reply. After a few moments of silence, I tried again and stood up from my crouch. I looked under trees and bushes for any signs of her, but there was no trace of my friend.

Maybe Hiroma was right. What if Sachi was in danger? We shouldn't have left her by herself, she was the weakest fighter of the group so it would've been easy to over power her. Why did we do that? We put her life in danger and now she must've paid for it-

The wind blew through the trees, allowing more moonlight to seep into the woods. I looked at the forest floor and swung my head around so fast I almost hurt my neck. There was no doubt about who it was slumped against the trunk of a tree, face hidden in shadow, and palms facing the sky.

"Sachi!" I beamed and darted forward, grabbing her shoulder and shaking her. My smile fell and I whispered quieter, "Sachi?"

Hiroma tapped his toe impatiently and looked for Akira. Where the hell was she? She should be out by now, dragging Sachi in tow. He couldn't help but smile as he remembered her trademark wink before darting into the foliage for the other third of their team.

Oh, how he wished they were back already! Then he could stop worrying and they could be home before visiting hours were over at the hospital his mother was staying at. He felt his heart wrench at the thought of the state his mother was last in. Pale face, wiry hair, weakened muscles, and the hollow, dead eyes…

He shook those thoughts from his head. This wasn't the time to think about that. He had to look out for his team mates. He scowled when the prisoner they had recently acquired started laughing.

"I don't think you've got anything to laugh about." He said darkly, hinting at what their superiors had in store for him.

"Oh, I think I do." He replied and kept laughing. "I'm sure you'd agree."

Hiroma couldn't speak. His breath seemed to get stuck in his throat as he spun towards the man kneeling on the ground, grabbed him by the throat, and knocked the hat off his head. Even in the scarce moonlight, Hiroma could still see his face.

"What the hell is going on?" Hiroma growled and took a step back. "Explain yourself, Haru!"

The fellow Kumogakure Jounin threw back his head and laughed, his eyes wide open. Hiroma took a few more steps back. The dead ninja, the Raikage, the rumors, body bags, so many body bags…

"If I explained everything, it would only be a waste of time." He chuckled. At the sound of his laugh Hiroma felt the hairs on the back of his neck as he looked towards the trees.

"Thinking of your friends?" The silver haired, steely-eyed ninja asked as he smiled, his over large canines showing menacingly. "Don't worry about them; it's you you'd best be worried about."

"What-" Hiroma began as the sound of shredding rope echoed through the night. His eyes widened as Haru, a ninja he had grown up with in Kumogakure, shook off his bonds and sprung at him, kunai drawn.

He didn't scream or draw a weapon; there was no time. There was only a brief pain and then… Darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

"Sachi?" I repeated softly.

When she didn't stir from her sleep, I felt my insides freeze over and my breath catch in my throat. The skin I touched on her shoulder was cold and clammy, and I quickly withdrew my hand as if I'd been burned.

I couldn't breathe as I reached my hand towards her neck. As soon as my index and middle finger made contact with her jugular vein, I learned two things. The first was that that skin was just as cold and clammy as the skin on her shoulder. The second was that she was unmistakably dead.

My eyes misted over in tears as my body racked itself with sobs. I dropped my hand and used it to weep into. Sachi was dead. She was so young and such a good person. She was one of my closest friends. She had a family. She had so much in store for her.

"Don't worry, Akira. She's in a better place."

I started and spun around, only to recognize a fellow ninja from Kumogakure. We grew up together and went to the ninja academy as children. He was a loner and hardly spoke to the other children, but we'd always been polite to each other. He came up behind me and put his hand on my shoulder as I looked back down to Sachi's lifeless body.

"We'll all miss her very much. And I'll see to it that somebody sees to telling her family… Those poor, poor children."

I sniffed and wiped my eyes. "Only a monster would've killed somebody as sweet as her. It's awful that someone could've done this."

Haru's fingers began to drum onto my shoulder as he sighed. "Maybe not a monster. Just somebody doing their job."

My eyebrows furrowed. Here he was, trying to comfort me after the loss of one of my oldest and closest friends, and he's _justifying _her murderer? What was he even doing here, anyway? This was a confidential mission and there was no way he could've 'just been in the neighborhood'.

"What are you trying to say, Mitsuharu?" I asked, frowning and trying to puzzle it all together in my head.

"I'm saying he might not have been a bad guy. He could've just been doing his job to protect his country. Maybe Sachi was the antagonist, or had to be removed." He explained. I felt myself clench my fists and gritted my teeth. He had _no _right to talk about her in such a way. The bastard didn't even know her!

"What do you-" My words were cut off when I let out a shriek as Haru dug his nails into my skin deep enough to bleed. It hurt so badly and to increase my agony he drug his hand down my back, ripping through cloth and skin as blood poured out. My voice came out as a high-pitched scream as my back arched. He pulled his hand out, his hand covered in my blood, and looked from his hand to my face and back again, a sick smirk set onto his face.

"Haru, I-I don't understand…" I sobbed and tried to pull myself away. My back and shoulder felt as if it was on fire and the crawling wasn't helping.

"Yes, that's right," He grinned and walked slowly closer to me, easily keeping up with my dragging. "Cry all you want. Beg me to tell you what's going on. Hiroma didn't try that tactic, as much as he wanted to know. Too bad for him, I suppose…"

I froze and looked up at him as tears began to overflow from my eyes. Hiroma too? No! He couldn't have! Hiroma could've taken him down- Haru wasn't known for being the most talented ninja.

"You're lying!" I snarled and glared up at him as he smiled. "Hiroma would've killed you! You're a lying son of a-"

"Ah, ah, ah. Watch your language." Haru smirked and shook his finger, scolding me.

"I don't give a fuck! You killed my friends!" I yelled and began clenching my fists tightly.

He smiled. "You bet I did."

He pulled his foot back and kicked me in the chin, sending me head first into a tree trunk. Bark shattered as my face took the blow for the rest of my body. I felt my nose break in several places as I fell to my back on the ground.

Blood gushed from my nose and it felt like I was drowning in it. I couldn't breathe and I could hardly move; my body was twitching on its own.

Mitsuharu walked up beside me, tipping my head over to the side so I wouldn't drown in my own blood. I could hardly consider it a kindness.

"You know, it's a shame." He said softly and fixed his wide eyes on mine as he slowly ran his finger along my jaw. "You're so talented that we could've used you. It's a shame… You're far too sweet."

His hands were at my throat and I struggled as much as I could- scratching, punching, clawing, anything to get him off so I could run. His fingers only tightened around my neck as I felt pressure, unbelievable pressure build up in my head. It was a terrible. Agonizing. I needed oxygen_ now._

I went for one of his pale eyes with my nails and clenched my jaw as I pulled- out came sphere, cord, and blood.

Mitsuharu shrieked and grabbed at his now empty socket as blood seeped out and reddened his desperate, pained hands. Hands no longer at my neck. My eyes watered as air went into my lungs and I was able to cling to life a bit longer. I scrambled away and got to my feet, sapped of my energy and struggling to remain standing.

"Mitsuharu…" I whispered as he stopped thrashing about on the ground to focus all of his hate into one glare. I returned it, never lacking any loathing either.

"I am going to kill you. I will not show you or anyone you're working with mercy. It will be as painful as I can possibly make it." I seethed through my clenched teeth.

"You plan on killing me in that state?" He growled. "You can barely carry yourself. And you have no weapons."

I reached my hand down to my pouch. Shit.

"I don't need them to kill you." I replied in a raspy voice. "And I'm not going to kill you now. It'll be when your least expecting it and it will be the single most painful thing you've ever experienced. I guarantee it."

I brought my foot back and kicked him in the face as hard as I could. He howled with pain and clutched his face.

"You little bitch! I'll see to it that you are tortured! You will be begging for death by the time I am through with you!" He snarled and opened his good eye to glare.

But no one was there.


End file.
